Object interactivity in virtual space

ABSTRACT

A method performed by an augmented reality (AR) system includes receiving a command that is input by the user through the AR system. The augmented reality (AR) system includes a hardware processor and an AR display configured to present virtual content in an environment of a user. The command specifies a type of virtual object to be presented in the environment. In response to the command, virtual objects of the specified type are presented in the environment, and a presentation of at least one of the virtual objects is altered in response to detecting a movement of the user in proximity to the at least one virtual object.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Application No. 62/901,130entitled “OBJECT INTERACTIVITY IN VIRTUAL SPACE” and filed on Sep. 16,2019, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to systems and methods tofacilitate interactive virtual or augmented reality environments foruser(s).

BACKGROUND

Modern computing and display technologies have facilitated thedevelopment of systems for virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR),and mixed reality (MR) experiences, in which digitally generated orreproduced images are presented to a user in a manner such that the usercan perceive the images similarly to how the user may perceivereal-world, physical objects. A VR scenario typically involvespresentation of computer-generated, or virtual, image informationwithout enabling the user to (e.g., directly) perceive other actualreal-world visual input. An AR scenario typically involves presentationof computer-generated image information as an augmentation to avisualization of the actual world around the user. A MR scenario mayinvolve merging real and virtual worlds to produce new environments inwhich physical and virtual objects can co-exist and/or interact in realtime. The human visual perception system is very complex, and producingVR, AR, and/or MR technology that facilitates a comfortable,natural-feeling, rich presentation of virtual image elements amongstother virtual and/or real-world imagery elements is challenging.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure describes embodiments for providing a VR, AR,and/or MR experience for a user through an application. The applicationenables the user to perform an action such as a gesture, a userinterface (UI) command, a voice command, and/or other suitablemechanism. In response to the action, the application can generate anddisplay one or more virtual objects that can then respond to real-worldobjects, other virtual objects, and/or the user's subsequent actions. Ina particular example, the displayed virtual objects are one or morevirtual butterflies which may be presented for a length of time, andwhich may react to subsequent user actions by flying away (e.g., inresponse to the user's movement(s) in proximity to the virtualbutterflies).

A general aspect of the invention includes a method performed by anaugmented reality (AR) system. The method includes receiving a commandthat is input by the user through the AR system. The augmented reality(AR) system includes a hardware processor and an AR display configuredto present virtual content in an environment of a user. The commandspecifies a type of virtual object to be presented in the environment.In response to the command, virtual objects of the specified type arepresented in the environment, and a presentation of at least one of thevirtual objects is altered in response to detecting a movement of theuser in proximity to the at least one virtual object.

Implementations of the general aspect of the invention may include oneor more of the following features.

In some implementations, the command includes a gesture, a userinterface command, or a voice command.

In certain implementations, specifying the type of virtual object to bepresented includes selecting a corresponding totem in a user menu. Thecommand can include activating the totem. Activating the totem typicallyincludes activating the totem for a selected length of time in aselected direction to indicate a location of one or more of the virtualobjects in the environment. The totem can be activated for an additionallength of time to indicate a location of one or more additional virtualobjects in the environment.

In some implementations, altering the presentation of the at least oneof the virtual objects includes moving the at least one of the virtualobjects away from the user. Moving the at least one of the virtualobjects away from the user can include dissolving the virtual object,fading out of the virtual object, decreasing a size of the virtualobject, or any combination thereof.

In some implementations, a length of time of the presentation of the atleast one of the virtual objects is predetermined. In someimplementations, a length of time of the presentation of the at leastone of the virtual objects is randomly selected within a range ofpossible values.

In certain implementations, at least one of the virtual objects exhibitsbehavior in response to an action of the user. The action of the usercan include moving toward at least one of the virtual objects. In oneexample, the action of the user includes moving a body part in proximityto at least one of the virtual objects.

In certain implementations, altering a presentation of at least one ofthe virtual objects includes moving at least one of the virtual objectsaway from the user in a random direction in response to the user'smovement.

In certain implementations, the general aspect further includesdetermining the at least one of the virtual objects based at leastpartly on the determined at least one of the virtual objects beingwithin a radius of the user. The radius can depend on a speed of themovement of the user.

In some implementations, a number of the virtual objects presented, amovement of at least one of the virtual objects presented, or both isresponsive to a speed of the movement of the user.

In some implementations, the general aspect may further includediscontinuing presenting each of the virtual objects following a lengthof time after the respective virtual object is initially presented.

In certain implementations, the virtual objects are butterflies.

The details of one or more embodiments of the subject matter of thisdisclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and thedescription. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subjectmatter will become apparent from the description, the drawings, and theclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts an illustration of a mixed reality scenario with certainvirtual reality objects, and certain physical objects viewed by aperson.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of wearable system that can be configuredto provide an virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and/or mixedreality (MR) scene and can include an example waypoint system

FIG. 3 illustrates aspects of an approach for simulating athree-dimensional imagery using multiple depth planes.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a waveguide stack for outputting imageinformation to a user.

FIG. 5 depicts an example of exit beams outputted by a waveguide.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an optical system including awaveguide apparatus, an optical coupler subsystem to optically couplelight to or from the waveguide apparatus, and a control subsystem, usedin the generation of a multi-focal volumetric display, image, or lightfield.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an example of an MR environment.

FIG. 8 is a process flow diagram of an example of a method of renderingvirtual content in relation to recognized objects.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of another example of a wearable system.

FIG. 10 is a process flow diagram of an example of a method fordetermining user input to a wearable system.

FIG. 11 is a process flow diagram of an example of a method fordetermining user input to a wearable system.

FIG. 12 shows an example image of virtual objects that can be renderedaccording to embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Virtual and augmented reality environments are generated by computersusing, in part, data that describes the environment. This data maydescribe, for example, various objects with which a user may sense andinteract with. Examples of these objects include objects that arerendered and displayed for a user to see, audio that is played for auser to hear, and tactile (or haptic) feedback for a user to feel. Usersmay sense and interact with the virtual and augmented realityenvironments through a variety of visual, auditory, and tactile means.

Virtual or augmented reality (AR) systems may be useful for manyapplications, spanning the fields of scientific visualization, medicineand military training, engineering design and prototyping,tele-manipulation and tele-presence, and personal entertainment.Augmented reality, in contrast to virtual reality, includes one or morevirtual objects in relation to real objects of the physical world. Suchan experience greatly enhances the user's experience and enjoyabilitywith the augmented reality system, and also opens the door for a varietyof applications that allow the user to experience real objects andvirtual objects simultaneously.

However, there are significant challenges in providing such a system. Toprovide a realistic augmented reality experience to users, the AR systemmust always know the user's physical surroundings in order to correctlycorrelate a location of virtual objects in relation to real objects.Further, the AR system must correctly know how to position virtualobjects in relation to the user's head, body etc. This requiresextensive knowledge of the user's position in relation to the world atall times. Additionally, these functions must be performed in a mannersuch that costs (e.g., energy costs, etc.) are kept low while speed andperformance are maintained.

A wearable system, also referred to herein as an AR system, VR system,or MR system, can be configured to present 2D or 3D virtual images to auser. The images may be still images, frames of a video, or a video, incombination or the like. At least a portion of the wearable system canbe implemented on a wearable device that can present a VR, AR, or MRenvironment, alone or in combination, for user interaction. The wearabledevice can be a head-mounted device (HMD) which is also referred to asan AR device. Further, for the purpose of the present disclosure, theterm AR is used interchangeably with the term MR.

FIG. 1 depicts an illustration of a mixed reality scenario with certainvirtual reality objects, and certain physical objects viewed by aperson. In FIG. 1, an MR scene 100 is depicted wherein a user of an MRtechnology sees a real-world park-like setting 110 featuring people,trees, buildings in the background, and a concrete platform 120. Inaddition to these items, the user of the MR technology also perceivesthat he “sees” a robot statue 130 standing upon the real-world platform120, and a cartoon-like avatar character 140 flying by which seems to bea personification of a bumble bee, even though these elements do notexist in the real world.

In order for the 3D display to produce a true sensation of depth, andmore specifically, a simulated sensation of surface depth, it may bedesirable for each point in the display's visual field to generate anaccommodative response corresponding to its virtual depth. If theaccommodative response to a display point does not correspond to thevirtual depth of that point, as determined by the binocular depth cuesof convergence and stereopsis, the human eye may experience anaccommodation conflict, resulting in unstable imaging, harmful eyestrain, headaches, and, in the absence of accommodation information,almost a complete lack of surface depth.

VR, AR, and MR experiences can be provided by display systems havingdisplays in which images corresponding to a plurality of depth planesare provided to a viewer. The images may be different for each depthplane (e.g., provide slightly different presentations of a scene orobject) and may be separately focused by the viewer's eyes, therebyhelping to provide the user with depth cues based on the accommodationof the eye required to bring into focus different image features for thescene located on different depth plane or based on observing differentimage features on different depth planes being out of focus. Asdiscussed elsewhere herein, such depth cues provide credible perceptionsof depth.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of wearable system 200 that can beconfigured to provide an AR/VR/MR scene and can include an examplewaypoint system described herein. The wearable system 200 can also bereferred to as the AR system 200. The wearable system 200 includes adisplay 220, and various mechanical and electronic modules and systemsto support the functioning of display 220. The display 220 may becoupled to a frame 230, which is wearable by a user, wearer, or viewer210. The display 220 can be positioned in front of the eyes of the user210. The display 220 can present AR/VR/MR content to a user. The display220 can include a head mounted display that is worn on the head of theuser. In some embodiments, a speaker 240 is coupled to the frame 230 andpositioned adjacent the ear canal of the user (in some embodiments,another speaker, not shown, is positioned adjacent the other ear canalof the user to provide for stereo/shapeable sound control). The display220 can include an audio sensor (e.g., a microphone) 232 for detectingan audio stream from the environment and capture ambient sound. One ormore other audio sensors, not shown, can be positioned to provide stereosound reception. Stereo sound reception can be used to determine thelocation of a sound source. The wearable system 200 can perform voice orspeech recognition on the audio stream.

The wearable system 200 can include an outward-facing imaging system 464(shown in FIG. 4) which observes the world in the environment around theuser. The wearable system 200 can also include an inward-facing imagingsystem 462 (shown in FIG. 4) which can track the eye movements of theuser. The inward-facing imaging system may track either one eye'smovements or both eyes' movements. The inward-facing imaging system 462may be attached to the frame 230 and may be in electrical communicationwith the processing modules 260 or 270, which may process imageinformation acquired by the inward-facing imaging system to determine,e.g., the pupil diameters or orientations of the eyes, eye movements oreye pose of the user 210.

As an example, the wearable system 200 can use the outward-facingimaging system 464 or the inward-facing imaging system 462 to acquireimages of a pose of the user. The images may be still images, frames ofa video, or a video.

The display 220 can be operatively coupled 250, such as by a wired leador wireless connectivity, to a local data processing module 260 whichmay be mounted in a variety of configurations, such as fixedly attachedto the frame 230, fixedly attached to a helmet or hat worn by the user,embedded in headphones, or otherwise removably attached to the user 210(e.g., in a backpack-style configuration, in a belt-coupling styleconfiguration).

The local processing and data module 260 may include a hardwareprocessor, as well as digital memory, such as non-volatile memory (e.g.,flash memory), both of which may be utilized to assist in theprocessing, caching, and storage of data. The data may include data a)captured from sensors (which may be, e.g., operatively coupled to theframe 230 or otherwise attached to the user 210), such as image capturedevices (e.g., cameras in the inward-facing imaging system or theoutward-facing imaging system), audio sensors (e.g., microphones),inertial measurement units (IMUs), accelerometers, compasses, globalpositioning system (GPS) units, radio devices, or gyroscopes; or b)acquired or processed using remote processing module 270 or remote datarepository 280, possibly for passage to the display 220 after suchprocessing or retrieval. The local processing and data module 260 may beoperatively coupled by communication links 262 or 264, such as via wiredor wireless communication links, to the remote processing module 270 orremote data repository 280 such that these remote modules are availableas resources to the local processing and data module 260. In addition,remote processing module 280 and remote data repository 280 may beoperatively coupled to each other.

The remote processing module 270 can include one or more processorsconfigured to analyze and process data or image information. The remotedata repository 280 can include a digital data storage facility, whichmay be available through the internet or other networking configurationin a “cloud” resource configuration. Data can be stored and computationscan be performed in the local processing and data module, allowing fullyautonomous use from a remote module.

The human visual system is complicated, and providing a realisticperception of depth is challenging. Without being limited by theory, itis believed that viewers of an object may perceive the object as beingthree-dimensional due to a combination of vergence and accommodation.Vergence movements (e.g., rolling movements of the pupils toward or awayfrom each other to converge the lines of sight of the eyes to fixateupon an object) of the two eyes relative to each other are closelyassociated with focusing (or “accommodation”) of the lenses of the eyes.Under normal conditions, changing the focus of the lenses of the eyes,or accommodating the eyes, to change focus from one object to anotherobject at a different distance will automatically cause a matchingchange in vergence to the same distance, under a relationship known asthe “accommodation-vergence reflex.” Likewise, a change in vergence willtrigger a matching change in accommodation, under normal conditions.Display systems that provide a better match between accommodation andvergence may form more realistic and comfortable simulations ofthree-dimensional imagery.

FIG. 3 illustrates aspects of an approach for simulating athree-dimensional imagery using multiple depth planes. With reference toFIG. 3, objects at various distances from eyes 302 and 304 on the z-axisare accommodated by the eyes 302 and 304 so that those objects are infocus. The eyes 302 and 304 assume particular accommodated states tobring into focus objects at different distances along the z-axis.Consequently, a particular accommodated state may be said to beassociated with a particular one of depth planes 306, which has anassociated focal distance, such that objects or parts of objects in aparticular depth plane are in focus when the eye is in the accommodatedstate for that depth plane. Three-dimensional imagery can be simulatedby providing different presentations of an image for each of the eyes302 and 304, and also by providing different presentations of the imagecorresponding to each of the depth planes. While shown as being separatefor clarity of illustration, it will be appreciated that the fields ofview of the eyes 302 and 304 may overlap, for example, as distance alongthe z-axis increases. In addition, while shown as flat for the ease ofillustration, it will be appreciated that the contours of a depth planemay be curved in physical space, such that all features in a depth planeare in focus with the eye in a particular accommodated state. Withoutbeing limited by theory, it is believed that the human eye typically caninterpret a finite number of depth planes to provide depth perception.Consequently, a highly believable simulation of perceived depth may beachieved by providing, to the eye, different presentations of an imagecorresponding to each of these limited number of depth planes.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a waveguide stack for outputting imageinformation to a user. A wearable system 400 includes a stack ofwaveguides, or stacked waveguide assembly 480 that may be utilized toprovide three-dimensional perception to the eye/brain using a pluralityof waveguides 432 b, 434 b, 436 b, 438 b, 4400 b. The wearable system400 can correspond to wearable system 200 of FIG. 2, with FIG. 4schematically showing some parts of that wearable system 200 in greaterdetail. For example, the waveguide assembly 480 can be integrated intothe display 220 of FIG. 2.

With continued reference to FIG. 4, the waveguide assembly 480 may alsoinclude a plurality of features 458, 456, 454, 452 between thewaveguides. The features 458, 456, 454, 452 may be lenses. The features458, 456, 454, 452 may not be lenses. Rather, they may simply be spacers(e.g., cladding layers or structures for forming air gaps).

The waveguides 432 b, 434 b, 436 b, 438 b, 440 b or the plurality oflenses 458, 456, 454, 452 may be configured to send image information tothe eye with various levels of wavefront curvature or light raydivergence. Each waveguide level may be associated with a particulardepth plane and may be configured to output image informationcorresponding to that depth plane. Image injection devices 420, 422,424, 426, 428 may be utilized to inject image information into thewaveguides 440 b, 438 b, 436 b, 434 b, 432 b, each of which may beconfigured to distribute incoming light across each respectivewaveguide, for output toward the eye 410. Light exits an output surfaceof the image injection devices 420, 422, 424, 426, 428 and is injectedinto a corresponding input edge of the waveguides 440 b, 438 b, 436 b,434 b, 432 b. A single beam of light (e.g., a collimated beam) may beinjected into each waveguide to output an entire field of clonedcollimated beams that are directed toward the eye 410 at particularangles (and amounts of divergence) corresponding to the depth planeassociated with a particular waveguide.

The image injection devices 420, 422, 424, 426, 428 can be discretedisplays that each produce image information for injection into acorresponding waveguide 440 b, 438 b, 436 b, 434 b, 432 b, respectively.Moreover, the image injection devices 420, 422, 424, 426, 428 can be theoutput ends of a single multiplexed display which may, e.g., pipe imageinformation via one or more optical conduits (such as fiber opticcables) to each of the image injection devices 420, 422, 424, 426, 428.

A controller 460 controls the operation of the stacked waveguideassembly 480 and the image injection devices 420, 422, 424, 426, 428.The controller 460 can include programming (e.g., instructions in anon-transitory computer-readable medium) that regulates the timing andprovision of image information to the waveguides 440 b, 438 b, 436 b,434 b, 432 b. The controller 460 may be a single integral device, or adistributed system connected by wired or wireless communicationchannels. The controller 460 may be part of the processing modules 260or 270 (illustrated in FIG. 2) in some embodiments.

The waveguides 440 b, 438 b, 436 b, 434 b, 432 b may be configured topropagate light within each respective waveguide by total internalreflection (TIR). The waveguides 440 b, 438 b, 436 b, 434 b, 432 b mayeach be planar or have another shape (e.g., curved), with major top andbottom surfaces and edges extending between those major top and bottomsurfaces. In the illustrated configuration, the waveguides 440 b, 438 b,436 b, 434 b, 432 b may each include light extracting optical elements440 a, 438 a, 436 a, 434 a, 432 a that are configured to extract lightout of a waveguide by redirecting the light, propagating within eachrespective waveguide, out of the waveguide to output image informationto the eye 410. Extracted light may also be referred to as outcoupledlight, and light extracting optical elements may also be referred to asoutcoupling optical elements. An extracted beam of light can beoutputted by the waveguide at locations at which the light propagatingin the waveguide strikes a light redirecting element. The lightextracting optical elements (440 a, 438 a, 436 a, 434 a, 432 a) may, forexample, be reflective or diffractive optical features. Whileillustrated disposed at the bottom major surfaces of the waveguides 440b, 438 b, 436 b, 434 b, 432 b for ease of description and drawingclarity the light extracting optical elements 440 a, 438 a, 436 a, 434a, 432 a may be disposed at the top or bottom major surfaces, or may bedisposed directly in the volume of the waveguides 440 b, 438 b, 436 b,434 b, 432 b. The light extracting optical elements 440 a, 438 a, 436 a,434 a, 432 a may be formed in a layer of material that is attached to atransparent substrate to form the waveguides 440 b, 438 b, 436 b, 434 b,432 b. The waveguides 440 b, 438 b, 436 b, 434 b, 432 b may be amonolithic piece of material and the light extracting optical elements440 a, 438 a, 436 a, 434 a, 432 a may be formed on a surface or in theinterior of that piece of material.

With continued reference to FIG. 4, as discussed herein, each waveguide440 b, 438 b, 436 b, 434 b, 432 b can be configured to output light toform an image corresponding to a particular depth plane. For example,the waveguide 432 b nearest the eye may be configured to delivercollimated light, as injected into such waveguide 432 b, to the eye 410.The collimated light may be representative of the optical infinity focalplane. The next waveguide up 434 b may be configured to send outcollimated light which passes through the first lens 452 (e.g., anegative lens) before it can reach the eye 410. First lens 452 may beconfigured to create a slight convex wavefront curvature so that theeye/brain interprets light coming from that next waveguide up 434 b ascoming from a first focal plane closer inward toward the eye 410 fromoptical infinity. Similarly, the third up waveguide 436 b passes itsoutput light through both the first lens 452 and second lens 454 beforereaching the eye 410. The combined optical power of the first and secondlenses 452 and 454 may be configured to create another incrementalamount of wavefront curvature so that the eye/brain interprets lightcoming from the third waveguide 436 b as coming from a second focalplane that is even closer inward toward the person from optical infinitythan was light from the next waveguide up 434 b.

The other waveguide layers (e.g., waveguides 438 b, 440 b) and lenses(e.g., lenses 456, 458) are similarly configured, with the highestwaveguide 440 b in the stack sending its output through all of thelenses between it and the eye for an aggregate focal powerrepresentative of the closest focal plane to the person. To compensatefor the stack of lenses 458, 456, 454, 452 when viewing/interpretinglight coming from the world 470 on the other side of the stackedwaveguide assembly 480, a compensating lens layer 430 may be disposed atthe top of the stack to compensate for the aggregate power of the lensstack 458, 456, 454, 452 below. Such a configuration provides as manyperceived focal planes as there are available waveguide/lens pairings.Both the light extracting optical elements of the waveguides and thefocusing aspects of the lenses may be static (e.g., not dynamic orelectro-active). Moreover, either or both may be dynamic usingelectro-active features.

With continued reference to FIG. 4, the light extracting opticalelements 440 a, 438 a, 436 a, 434 a, 432 a may be configured to bothredirect light out of their respective waveguides and to output thislight with the appropriate amount of divergence or collimation for aparticular depth plane associated with the waveguide. As a result,waveguides having different associated depth planes may have differentconfigurations of light extracting optical elements, which output lightwith a different amount of divergence depending on the associated depthplane. As discussed herein, the light extracting optical elements 440 a,438 a, 436 a, 434 a, 432 a may be volumetric or surface features, whichmay be configured to output light at specific angles. For example, thelight extracting optical elements 440 a, 438 a, 436 a, 434 a, 432 a maybe volume holograms, surface holograms, and/or diffraction gratings.Light extracting optical elements, such as diffraction gratings, aredescribed in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2015/0178939, published Jun.25, 2015, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

In some embodiments, the light extracting optical elements 440 a, 438 a,436 a, 434 a, 432 a are diffractive features that form a diffractionpattern, or diffractive optical element (DOE). Preferably, the DOE has arelatively low diffraction efficiency so that only a portion of thelight of the beam is deflected away toward the eye 410 with eachintersection of the DOE, while the rest continues to move through awaveguide via total internal reflection. The light carrying the imageinformation can thus be divided into a number of related exit beams thatexit the waveguide at a multiplicity of locations and the result is afairly uniform pattern of exit emission toward the eye 304 for thisparticular collimated beam bouncing around within a waveguide.

One or more DOEs may be switchable between “on” state in which theyactively diffract, and “off” state in which they do not significantlydiffract. For instance, a switchable DOE may include a layer of polymerdispersed liquid crystal, in which microdroplets include a diffractionpattern in a host medium, and the refractive index of the microdropletscan be switched to substantially match the refractive index of the hostmaterial (in which case the pattern does not appreciably diffractincident light) or the microdroplet can be switched to an index thatdoes not match that of the host medium (in which case the patternactively diffracts incident light).

The number and distribution of depth planes or depth of field may bevaried dynamically based on the pupil sizes or orientations of the eyesof the viewer. Depth of field may change inversely with a viewer's pupilsize. As a result, as the sizes of the pupils of the viewer's eyesdecrease, the depth of field increases such that one plane that is notdiscernible because the location of that plane is beyond the depth offocus of the eye may become discernible and appear more in focus withreduction of pupil size and commensurate with the increase in depth offield. Likewise, the number of spaced apart depth planes used to presentdifferent images to the viewer may be decreased with the decreased pupilsize. For example, a viewer may not be able to clearly perceive thedetails of both a first depth plane and a second depth plane at onepupil size without adjusting the accommodation of the eye away from onedepth plane and to the other depth plane. These two depth planes may,however, be sufficiently in focus at the same time to the user atanother pupil size without changing accommodation.

The display system may vary the number of waveguides receiving imageinformation based upon determinations of pupil size or orientation, orupon receiving electrical signals indicative of particular pupil size ororientation. For example, if the user's eyes are unable to distinguishbetween two depth planes associated with two waveguides, then thecontroller 460 (which may be an embodiment of the local processing anddata module 260) can be configured or programmed to cease providingimage information to one of these waveguides. Advantageously, this mayreduce the processing burden on the system, thereby increasing theresponsiveness of the system. In embodiments in which the DOEs for awaveguide are switchable between the on and off states, the DOEs may beswitched to the off state when the waveguide does receive imageinformation.

It may be desirable to have an exit beam meet the condition of having adiameter that is less than the diameter of the eye of a viewer. However,meeting this condition may be challenging in view of the variability insize of the viewer's pupils. This condition may be met over a wide rangeof pupil sizes by varying the size of the exit beam in response todeterminations of the size of the viewer's pupil. For example, as thepupil size decreases, the size of the exit beam may also decrease. Theexit beam size may be varied using a variable aperture.

The wearable system 400 can include an outward-facing imaging system 464(e.g., a digital camera) that images a portion of the world 470. Thisportion of the world 470 may be referred to as the field of view (FOV)of a world camera and the imaging system 464 is sometimes referred to asan FOV camera. The FOV of the world camera may or may not be the same asthe FOV of a viewer 210 that encompasses a portion of the world 470 theviewer 210 perceives at a given time. For example, in some situations,the FOV of the world camera may be larger than the viewer 210 of theviewer 210 of the wearable system 400. The entire region available forviewing or imaging by a viewer may be referred to as the field of regard(FOR). The FOR may include 4π steradians of solid angle surrounding thewearable system 400 because the wearer can move his body, head, or eyesto perceive substantially any direction in space. In other contexts, thewearer's movements may be more constricted, and accordingly the wearer'sFOR may subtend a smaller solid angle. Images obtained from theoutward-facing imaging system 464 can be used to track gestures made bythe user (e.g., hand or finger gestures), detect objects in the world470 in front of the user, and so forth.

The wearable system 400 can include an audio sensor 232, e.g., amicrophone, to capture ambient sound. As described above, one or moreother audio sensors can be positioned to provide stereo sound receptionuseful to the determination of location of a speech source. The audiosensor 232 can include a directional microphone, as another example,which can also provide such useful directional information as to wherethe audio source is located. The wearable system 400 can use informationfrom both the outward-facing imaging system 464 and the audio sensor 230in locating a source of speech, or to determine an active speaker at aparticular moment in time, etc. For example, the wearable system 400 canuse the voice recognition alone or in combination with a reflected imageof the speaker (e.g., as seen in a mirror) to determine the identity ofthe speaker. As another example, the wearable system 400 can determine aposition of the speaker in an environment based on sound acquired fromdirectional microphones. The wearable system 400 can parse the soundcoming from the speaker's position with speech recognition algorithms todetermine the content of the speech and use voice recognition techniquesto determine the identity (e.g., name or other demographic information)of the speaker.

The wearable system 400 can also include an inward-facing imaging system466 (e.g., a digital camera), which observes the movements of the user,such as the eye movements and the facial movements. The inward-facingimaging system 466 may be used to capture images of the eye 410 todetermine the size and/or orientation of the pupil of the eye 304. Theinward-facing imaging system 466 can be used to obtain images for use indetermining the direction the user is looking (e.g., eye pose) or forbiometric identification of the user (e.g., via iris identification). Atleast one camera may be utilized for each eye, to separately determinethe pupil size or eye pose of each eye independently, thereby allowingthe presentation of image information to each eye to be dynamicallytailored to that eye. The pupil diameter or orientation of only a singleeye 410 (e.g., using only a single camera per pair of eyes) can bedetermined and assumed to be similar for both eyes of the user. Theimages obtained by the inward-facing imaging system 466 may be analyzedto determine the user's eye pose or mood, which can be used by thewearable system 400 to decide which audio or visual content should bepresented to the user. In some embodiments, the wearable system 400 maydetermine head pose (e.g., head position or head orientation) usingsensors such as IMUs, accelerometers, gyroscopes, etc.

The wearable system 400 can include a user input device 466 by which theuser can input commands to the controller 460 to interact with thewearable system 400. For example, the user input device 466 can includea trackpad, a touchscreen, a joystick, a multiple degree-of-freedom(DOF) controller, a capacitive sensing device, a game controller, akeyboard, a mouse, a directional pad (D-pad), a wand, a haptic device, atotem (e.g., functioning as a virtual user input device), and so forth.A multi-DOF controller can sense user input in some or all possibletranslations (e.g., left/right, forward/backward, or up/down) orrotations (e.g., yaw, pitch, or roll) of the controller. A multi-DOFcontroller that supports the translation movements may be referred to asa 3DOF, while a multi-DOF controller that supports the translations androtations may be referred to as 6DOF. The user may use a finger (e.g., athumb) to press or swipe on a touch-sensitive input device to provideinput to the wearable system 400 (e.g., to provide user input to a userinterface provided by the wearable system 400). The user input device466 may be held by the user's hand during the use of the wearable system400. The user input device 466 can be in wired or wireless communicationwith the wearable system 400.

FIG. 5 shows an example of exit beams outputted by a waveguide. Onewaveguide is illustrated, but it will be appreciated that otherwaveguides in the waveguide assembly 480 of FIG. 4 may functionsimilarly, where the waveguide assembly 480 includes multiplewaveguides. Light 520 can be injected into the waveguide 432 b at theinput edge 432 c of the waveguide 432 b and propagates within thewaveguide 432 b by total internal reflection (TIR). At points where thelight 520 impinges on the DOE 432 a, a portion of the light exits thewaveguide as exit beams 510. The exit beams 510 are illustrated assubstantially parallel but they may also be redirected to propagate tothe eye 410 at an angle (e.g., forming divergent exit beams), dependingon the depth plane associated with the waveguide 432 b. It will beappreciated that substantially parallel exit beams may be indicative ofa waveguide with light extracting optical elements that outcouple lightto form images that appear to be set on a depth plane at a largedistance (e.g., optical infinity) from the eye 410. Other waveguides orother sets of light extracting optical elements may output an exit beampattern that is more divergent, which would require the eye 410 toaccommodate to a closer distance to bring it into focus on the retinaand would be interpreted by the brain as light from a distance closer tothe eye 410 than optical infinity.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an optical system including awaveguide apparatus, an optical coupler subsystem to optically couplelight to or from the waveguide apparatus, and a control subsystem, usedin the generation of a multi-focal volumetric display, image, or lightfield. The optical system can include a waveguide apparatus, an opticalcoupler subsystem to optically couple light to or from the waveguideapparatus, and a control subsystem. The optical system can be used togenerate a multi-focal volumetric, image, or light field. The opticalsystem can include one or more primary planar waveguides 632 a (only oneis shown in FIG. 6) and one or more DOEs 632 b associated with each ofat least some of the primary waveguides 632 a. The planar waveguides 632b can be similar to the waveguides 432 b, 434 b, 436 b, 438 b, 440 bdiscussed with reference to FIG. 4. The optical system may employ adistribution waveguide apparatus to relay light along a first axis(vertical or Y-axis in view of FIG. 6), and expand the light's effectiveexit pupil along the first axis (e.g., Y-axis). The distributionwaveguide apparatus may, for example, include a distribution planarwaveguide 622 b and at least one DOE 622 a (illustrated by doubledash-dot line) associated with the distribution planar waveguide 622 b.The distribution planar waveguide 622 b may be similar or identical inat least some respects to the primary planar waveguide 632 b, having adifferent orientation therefrom. Likewise, at least one DOE 622 a may besimilar to or identical in at least some respects to the DOE 632 a. Forexample, the distribution planar waveguide 622 b or DOE 622 a may becomposed of the same materials as the primary planar waveguide 632 b orDOE 632 a, respectively. Embodiments of the optical display system 600shown in FIG. 6 can be integrated into the wearable system 200 shown inFIG. 2.

The relayed and exit-pupil expanded light may be optically coupled fromthe distribution waveguide apparatus into the one or more primary planarwaveguides 632 b. The primary planar waveguide 632 b can relay lightalong a second axis, preferably orthogonal to first axis (e.g.,horizontal or X-axis in view of FIG. 6). Notably, the second axis can bea non-orthogonal axis to the first axis. The primary planar waveguide632 b expands the light's effective exit pupil along that second axis(e.g., X-axis). For example, the distribution planar waveguide 622 b canrelay and expand light along the vertical or Y-axis, and pass that lightto the primary planar waveguide 632 b which can relay and expand lightalong the horizontal or X-axis.

The optical system may include one or more sources of colored light(e.g., red, green, and blue laser light) 610 which may be opticallycoupled into a proximal end of a single mode optical fiber 640. A distalend of the optical fiber 640 may be threaded or received through ahollow tube 642 of piezoelectric material. The distal end protrudes fromthe tube 642 as fixed-free flexible cantilever 644. The piezoelectrictube 642 can be associated with four quadrant electrodes (notillustrated). The electrodes may, for example, be plated on the outside,outer surface or outer periphery or diameter of the tube 642. A coreelectrode (not illustrated) may also be located in a core, center, innerperiphery or inner diameter of the tube 642.

Drive electronics 650, for example electrically coupled via wires 660,drive opposing pairs of electrodes to bend the piezoelectric tube 642 intwo axes independently. The protruding distal tip of the optical fiber644 has mechanical modes of resonance. The frequencies of resonance candepend upon a diameter, length, and material properties of the opticalfiber 644. By vibrating the piezoelectric tube 642 near a first mode ofmechanical resonance of the fiber cantilever 644, the fiber cantilever644 can be caused to vibrate, and can sweep through large deflections.

By stimulating resonant vibration in two axes, the tip of the fibercantilever 644 is scanned biaxially in an area filling two-dimensional(2D) scan. By modulating an intensity of light source(s) 610 insynchrony with the scan of the fiber cantilever 644, light emerging fromthe fiber cantilever 644 can form an image. Descriptions of such a setup are provided in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2014/0003762, which isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

A component of an optical coupler subsystem can collimate the lightemerging from the scanning fiber cantilever 644. The collimated lightcan be reflected by mirrored surface 648 into the narrow distributionplanar waveguide 622 b which contains the at least one diffractiveoptical element (DOE) 622 a. The collimated light can propagatevertically (relative to the view of FIG. 6) along the distributionplanar waveguide 622 b by TIR, and in doing so repeatedly intersectswith the DOE 622 a. The DOE 622 a preferably has a low diffractionefficiency. This can cause a fraction (e.g., 10%) of the light to bediffracted toward an edge of the larger primary planar waveguide 632 bat each point of intersection with the DOE 622 a, and a fraction of thelight to continue on its original trajectory down the length of thedistribution planar waveguide 622 b via TIR.

At each point of intersection with the DOE 622 a, additional light canbe diffracted toward the entrance of the primary waveguide 632 b. Bydividing the incoming light into multiple outcoupled sets, the exitpupil of the light can be expanded vertically by the DOE 622 a in thedistribution planar waveguide 622 b. This vertically expanded lightcoupled out of distribution planar waveguide 622 b can enter the edge ofthe primary planar waveguide 632 b.

Light entering primary waveguide 632 b can propagate horizontally(relative to the view of FIG. 6) along the primary waveguide 632 b viaTIR. As the light intersects with DOE 632 a at multiple points as itpropagates horizontally along at least a portion of the length of theprimary waveguide 632 b via TIR. The DOE 632 a may advantageously bedesigned or configured to have a phase profile that is a summation of alinear diffraction pattern and a radially symmetric diffractive pattern,to produce both deflection and focusing of the light. The DOE 632 a mayadvantageously have a low diffraction efficiency (e.g., 10%), so thatonly a portion of the light of the beam is deflected toward the eye ofthe view with each intersection of the DOE 632 a while the rest of thelight continues to propagate through the primary waveguide 632 b viaTIR.

At each point of intersection between the propagating light and the DOE632 a, a fraction of the light is diffracted toward the adjacent face ofthe primary waveguide 632 b allowing the light to escape the TIR, andemerge from the face of the primary waveguide 632 b. The radiallysymmetric diffraction pattern of the DOE 632 a additionally can impart afocus level to the diffracted light, both shaping the light wavefront(e.g., imparting a curvature) of the individual beam as well as steeringthe beam at an angle that matches the designed focus level.

Accordingly, these different pathways can cause the light to be coupledout of the primary planar waveguide 632 b by a multiplicity of DOEs 632a at different angles, focus levels, or yielding different fill patternsat the exit pupil. Different fill patterns at the exit pupil can bebeneficially used to create a light field display with multiple depthplanes. Each layer in the waveguide assembly or a set of layers (e.g., 3layers) in the stack may be employed to generate a respective color(e.g., red, blue, green). Thus, for example, a first set of threeadjacent layers may be employed to respectively produce red, blue andgreen light at a first focal depth. A second set of three adjacentlayers may be employed to respectively produce red, blue and green lightat a second focal depth. Multiple sets may be employed to generate afull 3D or 4D color image light field with various focal depths.

In many implementations, the wearable system may include othercomponents in addition or in alternative to the components of thewearable system described above. The wearable system may, for example,include one or more haptic devices or components. The haptic devices orcomponents may be operable to provide a tactile sensation to a user. Forexample, the haptic devices or components may provide a tactilesensation of pressure or texture when touching virtual content (e.g.,virtual objects, virtual tools, other virtual constructs). The tactilesensation may replicate a feel of a physical object which a virtualobject represents, or may replicate a feel of an imagined object orcharacter (e.g., a dragon) which the virtual content represents. In someimplementations, haptic devices or components may be worn by the user(e.g., a user wearable glove). In some implementations, haptic devicesor components may be held by the user.

The wearable system may, for example, include one or more physicalobjects which are manipulable by the user to allow input or interactionwith the wearable system. These physical objects may be referred toherein as totems. Some totems may take the form of inanimate objects,such as for example, a piece of metal or plastic, a wall, a surface oftable. In certain implementations, the totems may not actually have anyphysical input structures (e.g., keys, triggers, joystick, trackball,rocker switch). Instead, the totem may simply provide a physicalsurface, and the wearable system may render a user interface so as toappear to a user to be on one or more surfaces of the totem. Forexample, the wearable system may render an image of a computer keyboardand trackpad to appear to reside on one or more surfaces of a totem. Forexample, the wearable system may render a virtual computer keyboard andvirtual trackpad to appear on a surface of a thin rectangular plate ofaluminum that serves as a totem. The rectangular plate does not itselfhave any physical keys or trackpad or sensors. However, the wearablesystem may detect user manipulation or interaction or touches with therectangular plate as selections or inputs made via the virtual keyboardor virtual trackpad. The user input device 466 (shown in FIG. 4) may bean embodiment of a totem, which may include a trackpad, a touchpad, atrigger, a joystick, a trackball, a rocker or virtual switch, a mouse, akeyboard, a multi-degree-of-freedom controller, or another physicalinput device. A user may use the totem, alone or in combination withposes, to interact with the wearable system or other users.

Examples of haptic devices and totems usable with the wearable devices,HMD, and display systems of the present disclosure are described in U.S.Patent Publication No. 2015/0016777, which is incorporated by referenceherein in its entirety.

A wearable system may employ various mapping related techniques in orderto achieve high depth of field in the rendered light fields. In mappingout the virtual world, it is advantageous to know all the features andpoints in the real world to accurately portray virtual objects inrelation to the real world. To this end, FOV images captured from usersof the wearable system can be added to a world model by including newpictures that convey information about various points and features ofthe real world. For example, the wearable system can collect a set ofmap points (such as 2D points or 3D points) and find new map points torender a more accurate version of the world model. The world model of afirst user can be communicated (e.g., over a network such as a cloudnetwork) to a second user so that the second user can experience theworld surrounding the first user.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an example of an MR environment 700. The MRenvironment 700 may be configured to receive input (e.g., visual input702 from the user's wearable system, stationary input 704 such as roomcameras, sensory input 706 from various sensors, gestures, totems, eyetracking, user input from the user input device 466 etc.) from one ormore user wearable systems (e.g., wearable system 200 or display system220) or stationary room systems (e.g., room cameras, etc.). The wearablesystems can use various sensors (e.g., accelerometers, gyroscopes,temperature sensors, movement sensors, depth sensors, GPS sensors,inward-facing imaging system, outward-facing imaging system, etc.) todetermine the location and various other attributes of the environmentof the user. This information may further be supplemented withinformation from stationary cameras in the room that may provide imagesor various cues from a different point of view. The image data acquiredby the cameras (such as the room cameras and/or the cameras of theoutward-facing imaging system) may be reduced to a set of mappingpoints.

One or more object recognizers 708 can analyze (e.g., crawl through) thereceived data (e.g., the collection of points) and recognize or mappoints, tag images, attach semantic information to objects with the helpof a map database 710. The map database 710 may include various pointscollected over time and their corresponding objects. The various devicesand the map database can be connected to each other through a network(e.g., LAN, WAN, etc.) to access the cloud.

Based on this information and collection of points in the map database,the object recognizers 708 a to 708 n may recognize objects in anenvironment. For example, the object recognizers can recognize faces,persons, windows, walls, user input devices, televisions, documents(e.g., travel tickets, driver's license, passport as described in thesecurity examples herein), other objects in the user's environment, etc.One or more object recognizers may be specialized for objects withcertain characteristics. For example, the object recognizer 708 a may beused to recognize faces, while another object recognizer may be usedrecognize documents.

The object recognitions may be performed using a variety of computervision techniques. For example, the wearable system can analyze theimages acquired by the outward-facing imaging system 464 (shown in FIG.4) to perform scene reconstruction, event detection, video tracking,object recognition (e.g., persons or documents), object pose estimation,facial recognition (e.g., from a person in the environment or an imageon a document), learning, indexing, motion estimation, or image analysis(e.g., identifying indicia within documents such as photos, signatures,identification information, travel information, etc.), and so forth. Oneor more computer vision algorithms may be used to perform these tasks.Non-limiting examples of computer vision algorithms include:Scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT), speeded up robust features(SURF), oriented FAST and rotated BRIEF (ORB), binary robust invariantscalable keypoints (BRISK), fast retina keypoint (FREAK), Viola-Jonesalgorithm, Eigenfaces approach, Lucas-Kanade algorithm, Horn-Schunkalgorithm, Mean-shift algorithm, visual simultaneous location andmapping (vSLAM) techniques, a sequential Bayesian estimator (e.g.,Kalman filter, extended Kalman filter, etc.), bundle adjustment,Adaptive thresholding (and other thresholding techniques), IterativeClosest Point (ICP), Semi Global Matching (SGM), Semi Global BlockMatching (SGBM), Feature Point Histograms, various machine learningalgorithms (such as e.g., support vector machine, k-nearest neighborsalgorithm, Naive Bayes, neural network (including convolutional or deepneural networks), or other supervised/unsupervised models, etc.), and soforth.

The object recognitions can additionally or alternatively be performedby a variety of machine learning algorithms. Once trained, the machinelearning algorithm can be stored by the HMD. Some examples of machinelearning algorithms can include supervised or non-supervised machinelearning algorithms, including regression algorithms (such as, forexample, Ordinary Least Squares Regression), instance-based algorithms(such as, for example, Learning Vector Quantization), decision treealgorithms (such as, for example, classification and regression trees),Bayesian algorithms (such as, for example, Naive Bayes), clusteringalgorithms (such as, for example, k-means clustering), association rulelearning algorithms (such as, for example, a-priori algorithms),artificial neural network algorithms (such as, for example, Perceptron),deep learning algorithms (such as, for example, Deep Boltzmann Machine,or deep neural network), dimensionality reduction algorithms (such as,for example, Principal Component Analysis), ensemble algorithms (suchas, for example, Stacked Generalization), and/or other machine learningalgorithms. Individual models can be customized for individual datasets. For example, the wearable device can generate or store a basemodel. The base model may be used as a starting point to generateadditional models specific to a data type (e.g., a particular user inthe telepresence session), a data set (e.g., a set of additional imagesobtained of the user in the telepresence session), conditionalsituations, or other variations. The wearable HMD can be configured toutilize a plurality of techniques to generate models for analysis of theaggregated data. Other techniques may include using pre-definedthresholds or data values.

Based on this information and collection of points in the map database,the object recognizers 708 a to 708 n may recognize objects andsupplement objects with semantic information to give life to theobjects. For example, if the object recognizer recognizes a set ofpoints to be a door, the system may attach some semantic information(e.g., the door has a hinge and has a 90 degree movement about thehinge). If the object recognizer recognizes a set of points to be amirror, the system may attach semantic information that the mirror has areflective surface that can reflect images of objects in the room. Thesemantic information can include affordances of the objects as describedherein. For example, the semantic information may include a normal ofthe object. The system can assign a vector whose direction indicates thenormal of the object. Over time the map database grows as the system(which may reside locally or may be accessible through a wirelessnetwork) accumulates more data from the world. Once the objects arerecognized, the information may be transmitted to one or more wearablesystems. For example, the MR environment 700 may include informationabout a scene happening in California. The environment 700 may betransmitted to one or more users in New York. Based on data receivedfrom an FOV camera and other inputs, the object recognizers and othersoftware components can map the points collected from the variousimages, recognize objects etc., such that the scene may be accurately“passed over” to a second user, who may be in a different part of theworld. The environment 700 may also use a topological map forlocalization purposes.

FIG. 8 is a process flow diagram of an example of a method 800 ofrendering virtual content in relation to recognized objects. The method800 describes how a virtual scene may be presented to a user of thewearable system. The user may be geographically remote from the scene.For example, the user may be in New York, but may want to view a scenethat is presently going on in California, or may want to go on a walkwith a friend who resides in California.

At block 810, the wearable system may receive input from the user andother users regarding the environment of the user. This may be achievedthrough various input devices, and knowledge already possessed in themap database. The user's FOV camera, sensors, GPS, eye tracking, etc.,convey information to the system at block 810. The system may determinesparse points based on this information at block 820. The sparse pointsmay be used in determining pose data (e.g., head pose, eye pose, bodypose, or hand gestures) that can be used in displaying and understandingthe orientation and position of various objects in the user'ssurroundings. The object recognizers 708 a-708 n may crawl through thesecollected points and recognize one or more objects using a map databaseat block 830. This information may then be conveyed to the user'sindividual wearable system at block 840, and the desired virtual scenemay be accordingly displayed to the user at block 850. For example, thedesired virtual scene (e.g., user in CA) may be displayed at theappropriate orientation, position, etc., in relation to the variousobjects and other surroundings of the user in New York.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of another example of a wearable system. Inthis example, the wearable system 900 includes a map 920, which mayinclude the map database 710 containing map data for the world. The mapmay partly reside locally on the wearable system, and may partly resideat networked storage locations accessible by wired or wireless network(e.g., in a cloud system). A pose process 910 may be executed on thewearable computing architecture (e.g., processing module 260 orcontroller 460) and utilize data from the map 920 to determine positionand orientation of the wearable computing hardware or user. Pose datamay be computed from data collected on the fly as the user isexperiencing the system and operating in the world. The data may includeimages, data from sensors (such as inertial measurement units, whichgenerally include accelerometer and gyroscope components) and surfaceinformation pertinent to objects in the real or virtual environment.

A sparse point representation may be the output of a simultaneouslocalization and mapping (e.g., SLAM or vSLAM, referring to aconfiguration wherein the input is images/visual only) process. Thesystem can be configured to not only find out where in the world thevarious components are, but what the world is made of Pose may be abuilding block that achieves many goals, including populating the mapand using the data from the map.

In one embodiment, a sparse point position may not be completelyadequate on its own, and further information may be needed to produce amultifocal AR, VR, or MR experience. Dense representations, generallyreferring to depth map information, may be utilized to fill this gap atleast in part. Such information may be computed from a process referredto as Stereo 940, wherein depth information is determined using atechnique such as triangulation or time-of-flight sensing. Imageinformation and active patterns (such as infrared patterns created usingactive projectors), images acquired from image cameras, or handgestures/totem 950 may serve as input to the Stereo process 940. Asignificant amount of depth map information may be fused together, andsome of this may be summarized with a surface representation. Forexample, mathematically definable surfaces may be efficient (e.g.,relative to a large point cloud) and digestible inputs to otherprocessing devices like game engines. Thus, the output of the stereoprocess (e.g., a depth map) 940 may be combined in the fusion process930. Pose 910 may be an input to this fusion process 930 as well, andthe output of fusion 930 becomes an input to populating the map process920. Sub-surfaces may connect with each other, such as in topographicalmapping, to form larger surfaces, and the map becomes a large hybrid ofpoints and surfaces.

To resolve various aspects in a mixed reality process 960, variousinputs may be utilized. For example, in the embodiment depicted in FIG.9, Game parameters may be inputs to determine that the user of thesystem is playing a monster battling game with one or more monsters atvarious locations, monsters dying or running away under variousconditions (such as if the user shoots the monster), walls or otherobjects at various locations, and the like. The world map may includeinformation regarding the location of the objects or semanticinformation of the objects and the world map can be another valuableinput to mixed reality. Pose relative to the world becomes an input aswell and plays a key role to almost any interactive system.

Controls or inputs from the user are another input to the wearablesystem 900. As described herein, user inputs can include visual input,gestures, totems, audio input, sensory input, etc. In order to movearound or play a game, for example, the user may need to instruct thewearable system 900 regarding what he or she wants to do. Beyond justmoving oneself in space, there are various forms of user controls thatmay be utilized. A totem (e.g. a user input device), or an object suchas a toy gun may be held by the user and tracked by the system. Thesystem preferably will be configured to know that the user is holdingthe item and understand what kind of interaction the user is having withthe item (e.g., if the totem or object is a gun, the system may beconfigured to understand location and orientation, as well as whetherthe user is clicking a trigger or other sensed button or element whichmay be equipped with a sensor, such as an IMU, which may assist indetermining what is going on, even when such activity is not within thefield of view of any of the cameras).

Hand gesture tracking or recognition may also provide input information.The wearable system 900 may be configured to track and interpret handgestures for button presses, for gesturing left or right, stop, grab,hold, etc. For example, in one configuration, the user may want to flipthrough emails or a calendar in a non-gaming environment, or do a “fistbump” with another person or player. The wearable system 900 may beconfigured to leverage a minimum amount of hand gesture, which may ormay not be dynamic. For example, the gestures may be simple staticgestures like open hand for stop, thumbs up for ok, thumbs down for notok; or a hand flip right, or left, or up/down for directional commands.

Eye tracking is another input (e.g., tracking where the user is lookingto control the display technology to render at a specific depth orrange). Vergence of the eyes may be determined using triangulation, andthen using a vergence/accommodation model developed for that particularperson, accommodation may be determined. Eye tracking can be performedby the eye camera(s) to determine eye gaze (e.g., direction ororientation of one or both eyes). Other techniques can be used for eyetracking such as, e.g., measurement of electrical potentials byelectrodes placed near the eye(s) (e.g., electrooculography).

Speech tracking is another input that can be used alone or incombination with other inputs (e.g., totem tracking, eye tracking,gesture tracking, etc.). Speech tracking may include speech recognitionand voice recognition, alone or in combination. The system 900 caninclude an audio sensor (e.g., a microphone) that receives an audiostream from the environment. The system 900 can incorporate voicerecognition technology to determine who is speaking (e.g., whether thespeech is from the wearer of the ARD or another person or voice (e.g., arecorded voice transmitted by a loudspeaker in the environment)) as wellas speech recognition technology to determine what is being said. Thelocal data & processing module 260 or the remote processing module 270can process the audio data from the microphone (or audio data in anotherstream such as, e.g., a video stream being watched by the user) toidentify content of the speech by applying various speech recognitionalgorithms, such as, e.g., hidden Markov models, dynamic time warping(DTW)-based speech recognitions, neural networks, deep learningalgorithms such as deep feedforward and recurrent neural networks,end-to-end automatic speech recognitions, machine learning algorithms(described with reference to FIG. 7), or other algorithms that usesacoustic modeling or language modeling, etc. In some cases, the speechwill come from multiple sources, for example, from another person in thevicinity of the user, from an announcer on a television playing in thevicinity of the person, and from speech content that is being played tothe user of the ARD via the speaker 240. As further described below,these different speech sources (e.g., a person, a television announcer,and an audio stream in this example) may be content analyzed anddifferent topics may be presented differently to the user by a userinterface of the ARD (e.g., different topics organized into differentthreads, speech by different speakers organized into different threads,or a combination of these).

The local data & processing module 260 or the remote processing module270 can also apply voice recognition algorithms that can identify theidentity of the speaker, such as whether the speaker is the user 210 ofthe wearable system 900 or another person with whom the user isconversing. Some example voice recognition algorithms can includefrequency estimation, hidden Markov models, Gaussian mixture models,pattern matching algorithms, neural networks, matrix representation,Vector Quantization, speaker diarisation, decision trees, and dynamictime warping (DTW) technique. Voice recognition techniques can alsoinclude anti-speaker techniques, such as cohort models, and worldmodels. Spectral features may be used in representing speakercharacteristics. The local data & processing module or the remote dataprocessing module 270 can use various machine learning algorithmsdescribed with reference to FIG. 7 to perform the voice recognition.

An implementation of a waypoint mapping system 970 can use these usercontrols or inputs via a user interface (UI). UI elements (e.g.,controls, popup windows, bubbles, data entry fields, etc.) can be used,for example, to dismiss a display of auxiliary information, or to add aword to a common word dictionary. Examples of such implementations andthese uses are described further below.

With regard to the camera systems, the example wearable system 900 shownin FIG. 9 can include three pairs of cameras: a relative wide FOV orpassive SLAM pair of cameras arranged to the sides of the user's face, adifferent pair of cameras oriented in front of the user to handle thestereo imaging process 940 and also to capture hand gestures andtotem/object tracking in front of the user's face. The FOV cameras andthe pair of cameras for the stereo process 940 may be a part of theoutward-facing imaging system 464 (shown in FIG. 4). The wearable system900 can include eye tracking cameras (which may be a part of aninward-facing imaging system 462 shown in FIG. 4) oriented toward theeyes of the user in order to triangulate eye vectors and otherinformation. The wearable system 900 may also include one or moretextured light projectors (such as infrared (IR) projectors) to injecttexture into a scene.

FIG. 10 is a process flow diagram of an example of a method 1000 fordetermining user input to a wearable system. In this example, the usermay interact with a totem. The user may have multiple totems. Forexample, the user may have designated one totem for a social mediaapplication, another totem for playing games, etc. At block 1010, thewearable system may detect a motion of a totem. The movement of thetotem may be recognized through the outward-facing imaging system or maybe detected through sensors (e.g., haptic glove, image sensors, handtracking devices, eye-tracking cameras, head pose sensors, etc.).

Based at least partly on the detected gesture, eye pose, head pose, orinput through the totem, the wearable system detects a position,orientation, or movement of the totem (or the user's eyes or head orgestures) with respect to a reference frame, at block 1020. Thereference frame may be a set of map points based on which the wearablesystem translates the movement of the totem (or the user) to an actionor command. At block 1030, the user's interaction with the totem ismapped. Based on the mapping of the user interaction with respect to thereference frame 1020, the system determines the user input at block1040.

For example, the user may move a totem or physical object back and forthto signify turning a virtual page and moving on to a next page or movingfrom one user interface (UI) display screen to another UI screen. Asanother example, the user may move their head or eyes to look atdifferent real or virtual objects in the user's FOR. If the user's gazeat a particular real or virtual object is longer than a threshold time,the real or virtual object may be selected as the user input. Thevergence of the user's eyes can be tracked and an accommodation/vergencemodel can be used to determine the accommodation state of the user'seyes, which provides information on a depth plane on which the user isfocusing. The wearable system can use ray casting techniques todetermine which real or virtual objects are along the direction of theuser's head pose or eye pose. The ray casting techniques can includecasting thin, pencil rays with substantially little transverse width orcasting rays with substantial transverse width (e.g., cones orfrustums).

The user interface may be projected by the display system as describedherein (such as the display 220 in FIG. 2). It may also be displayedusing a variety of other techniques such as one or more projectors. Theprojectors may project images onto a physical object such as a canvas ora globe. Interactions with user interface may be tracked using one ormore cameras external to the system or part of the system (such as,e.g., using the inward-facing imaging system 462 or the outward-facingimaging system 464).

FIG. 11 is a process flow diagram of an example of a method 1100 forinteracting with a virtual user interface. The method 1100 may beperformed by the wearable system described herein. Embodiments of themethod 1100 can be used by the wearable system to detect persons ordocuments in the FOV of the wearable system.

At block 1110, the wearable system may identify a particular UI. Thetype of UI may be predetermined by the user. The wearable system mayidentify that a particular UI needs to be populated based on a userinput (e.g., gesture, visual data, audio data, sensory data, directcommand, etc.). The UI can be specific to a security scenario where thewearer of the system is observing users who present documents to thewearer (e.g., at a travel checkpoint). At block 1120, the wearablesystem may generate data for the virtual UI. For example, dataassociated with the confines, general structure, shape of the UI etc.,may be generated. In addition, the wearable system may determine mapcoordinates of the user's physical location so that the wearable systemcan display the UI in relation to the user's physical location. Forexample, if the UI is body centric, the wearable system may determinethe coordinates of the user's physical stance, head pose, or eye posesuch that a ring UI can be displayed around the user or a planar UI canbe displayed on a wall or in front of the user. In the security contextdescribed herein, the UI may be displayed as if the UI were surroundingthe traveler who is presenting documents to the wearer of the system, sothat the wearer can readily view the UI while looking at the travelerand the traveler's documents. If the UI is hand centric, the mapcoordinates of the user's hands may be determined. These map points maybe derived through data received through the FOV cameras, sensory input,or any other type of collected data.

At block 1130, the wearable system may send the data to the display fromthe cloud or the data may be sent from a local database to the displaycomponents. At block 1140, the UI is displayed to the user based on thesent data. For example, a light field display can project the virtual UIinto one or both of the user's eyes. Once the virtual UI has beencreated, the wearable system may simply wait for a command from the userto generate more virtual content on the virtual UI at block 1150. Forexample, the UI may be a body centric ring around the user's body or thebody of a person in the user's environment (e.g., a traveler). Thewearable system may then wait for the command (a gesture, a head or eyemovement, voice command, input from a user input device, etc.), and ifit is recognized (block 1160), virtual content associated with thecommand may be displayed to the user (block 1170).

Additional examples of wearable systems, UIs, and user experiences (UX)are described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2015/0016777, which isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

In some embodiments, the wearable system can execute one or moreapplications that render content for presentation to the user of thewearable system. For example, an application can present a menu ofselectable items that the application is configured to render as virtualobjects in the virtual space. After selecting an item, the user candirect a pointer in a direction (e.g., by pointing the totem) and issuea command (e.g., through a button press on the totem) to render theselected item at a location that is in the direction that the userpointed. For example, a virtual object corresponding to the selecteditem can be generated and presented so as to appear to be on a physicalsurface that is in the indicated direction. Item selection can also beachieved through some other type of user action such as a gesture, auser interface (UI) command, a voice command, and/or other suitablemechanism. After being presented, the virtual object(s) can respond toreal-world objects, other virtual objects, and/or the user's subsequentactions. In some embodiments, a rendered virtual object can performparticular actions after it has been rendered. For example, a virtualknight can be selected and generated to walk on a surface, and thevirtual knight can interact with other virtual characters (e.g., fightwith a virtual dinosaur or another virtual knight).

In a particular example, the displayed virtual objects are one or morevirtual butterflies which may be presented for a length of time, andwhich may react to subsequent user actions by flying away (e.g., inresponse to the user's movement(s) in proximity to the virtualbutterflies). FIG. 12 shows an example image of virtual objects (e.g.,butterflies 1200) that can be rendered according to embodiments. Afterselecting the “butterfly brush” in the menu, the user can point thetotem in one or more directions and press a button on the totem to paintor draw one or more individual virtual butterflies in the space or on asurface that is in the indicated direction. For example, additionalbutterflies may be created and presented as long as the button on thetotem is pressed. The user may move the pointer in any desired directionto indicate that butterflies are to be presented at various locationswhere the pointer is pointing. Each butterfly may be presented for alength of time after it is originally rendered, and may be removed fromthe scene after the length of time has expired. Removal can includedissolving the butterfly, fading it out, having it fly away to infinity,or otherwise. The length of time for object presentation can bepredetermined (e.g., one minute) or randomly selected within a range ofpossible values.

In some embodiments, one or more of the presented virtual objects canexhibit behavior(s) in response to subsequent action(s) by the user. Forexample, the virtual object(s) can fly away from the user if the userwalks toward the virtual object(s), or moves their hand (or other bodypart) in proximity to the virtual object(s) in the space. In someexamples, each virtual object can move away from the user in a randomdirection in response to the user's movement. In some embodiments, theparticular manner in which the virtual object(s) react to the user canbe based at least partly on characteristics of the user's movement. Forexample, a butterfly may begin to fly when the user approaches (or movestheir body part) within a particular radius of that particularbutterfly, such that butterflies can react if the user is sufficientlyclose. In some embodiments, the radius of interaction may depend on aspeed at which the user is moving (or moving their body part). Forexample, if the user is approaching butterflies more quickly, or movingtheir arm more quickly, the radius may be larger than if the user wasapproaching or moving more slowly. Accordingly, a faster movement by theuser may cause a larger number of the virtual butterflies to beginflying. In some examples, a faster movement by the user may cause thebutterflies to fly away at a higher velocity than they otherwise wouldin response to a slower movement by the user.

Each of the processes, methods, and algorithms described herein and/ordepicted in the attached figures may be embodied in, and fully orpartially automated by, code modules executed by one or more physicalcomputing systems, hardware computer processors, application-specificcircuitry, and/or electronic hardware configured to execute specific andparticular computer instructions. For example, computing systems caninclude general purpose computers (e.g., servers) programmed withspecific computer instructions or special purpose computers, specialpurpose circuitry, and so forth. A code module may be compiled andlinked into an executable program, installed in a dynamic link library,or may be written in an interpreted programming language. In someimplementations, particular operations and methods may be performed bycircuitry that is specific to a given function.

Further, certain implementations of the functionality of the presentdisclosure are sufficiently mathematically, computationally, ortechnically complex that application-specific hardware or one or morephysical computing devices (utilizing appropriate specialized executableinstructions) may be necessary to perform the functionality, forexample, due to the volume or complexity of the calculations involved orto provide results substantially in real-time. For example, animationsor video may include many frames, with each frame having millions ofpixels, and specifically programmed computer hardware is necessary toprocess the video data to provide a desired image processing task orapplication in a commercially reasonable amount of time.

Code modules or any type of data may be stored on any type ofnon-transitory computer-readable medium, such as physical computerstorage including hard drives, solid state memory, random access memory(RAM), read only memory (ROM), optical disc, volatile or non-volatilestorage, combinations of the same and/or the like. The methods andmodules (or data) may also be transmitted as generated data signals(e.g., as part of a carrier wave or other analog or digital propagatedsignal) on a variety of computer-readable transmission mediums,including wireless-based and wired/cable-based mediums, and may take avariety of forms (e.g., as part of a single or multiplexed analogsignal, or as multiple discrete digital packets or frames). The resultsof the disclosed processes or process steps may be stored, persistentlyor otherwise, in any type of non-transitory, tangible computer storageor may be communicated via a computer-readable transmission medium.

Any processes, blocks, states, steps, or functionalities in flowdiagrams described herein and/or depicted in the attached figures shouldbe understood as potentially representing code modules, segments, orportions of code which include one or more executable instructions forimplementing specific functions (e.g., logical or arithmetical) or stepsin the process. The various processes, blocks, states, steps, orfunctionalities can be combined, rearranged, added to, deleted from,modified, or otherwise changed from the illustrative examples providedherein. In some embodiments, additional or different computing systemsor code modules may perform some or all of the functionalities describedherein. The methods and processes described herein are also not limitedto any particular sequence, and the blocks, steps, or states relatingthereto can be performed in other sequences that are appropriate, forexample, in serial, in parallel, or in some other manner. Tasks orevents may be added to or removed from the disclosed exampleembodiments. Moreover, the separation of various system components inthe implementations described herein is for illustrative purposes andshould not be understood as requiring such separation in allimplementations. It should be understood that the described programcomponents, methods, and systems can generally be integrated together ina single computer product or packaged into multiple computer products.Many implementation variations are possible.

The processes, methods, and systems may be implemented in a network (ordistributed) computing environment. Network environments includeenterprise-wide computer networks, intranets, local area networks (LAN),wide area networks (WAN), personal area networks (PAN), cloud computingnetworks, crowd-sourced computing networks, the Internet, and the WorldWide Web. The network may be a wired or a wireless network or any othertype of communication network.

The systems and methods of the disclosure each have several innovativeaspects, no single one of which is solely responsible or required forthe desirable attributes disclosed herein. The various features andprocesses described above may be used independently of one another, ormay be combined in various ways. All possible combinations andsubcombinations are intended to fall within the scope of thisdisclosure. Various modifications to the implementations described inthis disclosure may be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, andthe generic principles defined herein may be applied to otherimplementations without departing from the spirit or scope of thisdisclosure. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to theimplementations or embodiments shown herein, but are to be accorded thewidest scope consistent with this disclosure, the principles and thenovel features disclosed herein.

Certain features that are described in this specification in the contextof separate implementations or embodiments also can be implemented incombination in a single implementation or embodiment. Conversely,various features that are described in the context of a singleimplementation or embodiment also can be implemented in multipleimplementations or embodiments separately or in any suitablesubcombination. Moreover, although features may be described above asacting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, oneor more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excisedfrom the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to asubcombination or variation of a subcombination. No single feature orgroup of features is necessary or indispensable to each and everyembodiment.

Conditional language used herein, such as, among others, “can,” “could,”“might,” “may,” “e.g.,” and the like, unless specifically statedotherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, isgenerally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, whileother embodiments do not include, certain features, elements and/orsteps. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended toimply that features, elements and/or steps are in any way required forone or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarilyinclude logic for deciding, with or without author input or prompting,whether these features, elements and/or steps are included or are to beperformed in any particular embodiment. The terms “comprising,”“including,” “having,” and the like are synonymous and are usedinclusively, in an open-ended fashion, and do not exclude additionalelements, features, acts, operations, and so forth. Also, the term “or”is used in its inclusive sense (and not in its exclusive sense) so thatwhen used, for example, to connect a list of elements, the term “or”means one, some, or all of the elements in the list. In addition, thearticles “a,” “an,” and “the” as used in this application and theappended claims are to be construed to mean “one or more” or “at leastone” unless specified otherwise.

As used herein, a phrase referring to “at least one of” a list of itemsrefers to any combination of those items, including single members. Asan example, “at least one of: A, B, or C” is intended to cover: A, B, C,A and B, A and C, B and C, and A, B, and C. Conjunctive language such asthe phrase “at least one of X, Y and Z,” unless specifically statedotherwise, is otherwise understood with the context as used in generalto convey that an item, term, etc. may be at least one of X, Y or Z.Thus, such conjunctive language is not generally intended to imply thatcertain embodiments require at least one of X, at least one of Y and atleast one of Z to each be present.

Similarly, while operations may be depicted in the drawings in aparticular order, it is to be recognized that such operations need notbe performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, orthat all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirableresults. Further, the drawings may schematically depict one more exampleprocesses in the form of a flowchart. However, other operations that arenot depicted can be incorporated in the example methods and processesthat are schematically illustrated. For example, one or more additionaloperations can be performed before, after, simultaneously, or betweenany of the illustrated operations. Additionally, the operations may berearranged or reordered in other implementations. In certaincircumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.Moreover, the separation of various system components in theimplementations described above should not be understood as requiringsuch separation in all implementations, and it should be understood thatthe described program components and systems can generally be integratedtogether in a single software product or packaged into multiple softwareproducts. Additionally, other implementations are within the scope ofthe following claims. In some cases, the actions recited in the claimscan be performed in a different order and still achieve desirableresults.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, by a hardwareprocessor of an augmented reality (AR) device, a command that is inputby the user and that identifies (i) a type of virtual object and (ii) aparticular location in a physical environment surrounding the user inwhich, through presentation of the virtual object in an AR display ofthe AR device, the virtual object is to appear to be; in response toreceiving the command, presenting, by the hardware processor, thevirtual object in the AR display of the AR device so the virtual objectappears to be in the identified particular location in the physicalenvironment surrounding the user; determining, by the hardwareprocessor, that the user has taken a particular action with respect tothe identified particular location in the physical environmentsurrounding the user; and in response to determining that the user hastaken the particular action with respect to the identified particularlocation, altering, by the hardware processor, a presentation of thevirtual object in the AR display.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein theparticular action with respect to the identified particular locationwithin the physical environment comprises a gesture, a user interfacecommand, or a voice command that references the particular location. 3.The method of claim 1, wherein specifying the type of the virtual objectto be presented comprises selecting a corresponding totem in a usermenu.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the command comprisesactivating the totem.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving thecommand comprises activating a totem for a predetermined length of timein a selected direction that is associated with the identifiedparticular location.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein altering thepresentation of the virtual object comprises animating the virtualobject to move away from the particular location.
 7. The method of claim1, wherein altering the presentation of the virtual object comprisesdissolving the virtual object from view.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein altering the presentation of the virtual object comprises fadingthe virtual object from view.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein alteringthe presentation of the virtual object comprises decreasing a size ofthe virtual object.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein altering thepresentation of the virtual object comprises removing the virtual objectfrom presentation after a predetermined period of time.
 11. The methodof claim 1, wherein altering the presentation of the virtual objectcomprises removing the virtual object from presentation after a randomlyselected period of time.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtualobject exhibits predetermined behavior in response to the particularaction of the user.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the particularaction of the user comprises motion toward the identified, particularlocation in the physical environment.
 14. The method of claim 1, whereinthe particular action of the user comprises moving a body part inproximity to the identified, particular location.
 15. The method ofclaim 1, wherein altering a presentation of the virtual object comprisesanimating the virtual object so as to appear to move away from theparticular location in a random direction.
 16. The method of claim 1,comprising selecting the virtual object based at least on the commandand upon a distance between the particular location and the user. 17.The method of claim 1, comprising selecting the virtual object based atleast on the command and upon a speed of the user.
 18. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the virtual object comprises a virtual butterflies. 19.The method of claim 1, wherein the particular location comprises aparticular physical surface within the physical environment.
 20. Asystem comprising: one or more processors; and one or morenon-transitory machine-readable storage devices storing instructionsthat are executable by the one or more processors to perform operationscomprising: receiving, by a hardware processor of an augmented reality(AR) device, a command that is input by the user and that identifies (i)a type of virtual object and (ii) a particular location in a physicalenvironment surrounding the user in which, through presentation of thevirtual object in an AR display of the AR device, the virtual object isto appear to be; in response to receiving the command, presenting, bythe hardware processor, the virtual object in the AR display of the ARdevice so the virtual object appears to be in the identified particularlocation in the physical environment surrounding the user; determining,by the hardware processor, that the user has taken a particular actionwith respect to the identified particular location in the physicalenvironment surrounding the user; and in response to determining thatthe user has taken the particular action with respect to the identifiedparticular location, altering, by the hardware processor, a presentationof the virtual object in the AR display.
 21. A non-transitory computerstorage medium encoded with a computer program, the computer programcomprising instructions that when executed by one or more processorscause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:receiving, by a hardware processor of an augmented reality (AR) device,a command that is input by the user and that identifies (i) a type ofvirtual object and (ii) a particular location in a physical environmentsurrounding the user in which, through presentation of the virtualobject in an AR display of the AR device, the virtual object is toappear to be; in response to receiving the command, presenting, by thehardware processor, the virtual object in the AR display of the ARdevice so the virtual object appears to be in the identified particularlocation in the physical environment surrounding the user; determining,by the hardware processor, that the user has taken a particular actionwith respect to the identified particular location in the physicalenvironment surrounding the user; and in response to determining thatthe user has taken the particular action with respect to the identifiedparticular location, altering, by the hardware processor, a presentationof the virtual object in the AR display.